No serious person with an interest in politics respects the state-sponsored news outlets of Russia or DPRK, but okay.

No-one respects CNN and the likes also. They are just like Newsmax, but serving the opposite side.

Do you seriously believe that CNN's standards for truth are just as bad as Newsmax? That's quite a claim.

I see their standards to be just about the same with Russian state propaganda channels. If you'd seen them both you'd be amazed with the similarity. Unless,of course, you would choose to overlook it - people often shield themselves from the information that doesn't fit their paradigm.

Are you implying that political pressure might mean some leaders get more bad press than others?